A space for the misfits

Madras Indie Collective (MIC) is now the new progressive development in the indie art scene that aims to bring together indie and freelance artists from all forms of art including music, painting, spoken word and filmmaking. Started by popular faces like Tenma (known for the band Kurangan), the collective strives to serve as a support system for the upcoming and established artists in the indie scene. DC speaks to some of the members of MIC about its objectives.

“I have travelled through the indie music scape for about 15 years. But now I am also part of commercial music. I did it because I didn’t want to be broke — I needed it for bread and butter. So, I created an ecosystem for my survival. There is a need of such ecosystems for all artists which is not there right now. That’s the reason why I started this collective,” says Tenma.

MIC is not just a platform for creating shows and events but it is a move to bring in people together. “I wanted a place for the misfits to hang out — a place to ponder about the problems in the scene. We have to start somewhere, so we have begun from this collective,” Tenma adds.

The collective has already brought together some total strangers from different parts of the country for big projects. With about 50 to 70 members, the collective functions organically with no hierarchy. The participants come together based on the events and meets.

The popular indie musician Seinnor, who performed on the first gig of MIC, says, “The first event itself saw a good turnout. It was a good crowd and importantly  a new crowd. It was one of the best gigs for Kurangan also. In the long run, MIC will become a culture because a lot of artists are coming in — not only musicians, even writers, filmmakers and people who cook, are turning up. When everyone comes together, it will turn out to be an art movement.”

MIC is also planning to hold open mic events and bring in new artists to the fore. Conducting workshops on songwriting, poetry and other arts are also part of the plan.

Arun Ranjan, one of the founders of Bodahub, a creative — concept house, who is also one of the core members of MIC reveals, “Not only the bands, even groups like Temple Monkeys were struggling to find sponsors. So, we noticed that different groups of the art world were all fighting the same problems. There were, of course, collectives for every artform, but there was no umbrella to bring them all together. That’s why we started this to see where it actually goes.”
While signing off, Arun says, “What we eventually want is MIC to be a roof for all independent artists.”